Patent GB-321217-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in machines for treating hides, skins, leather and the like
IPC: C14B1/56
Filed: 1928-08-03
Abstract: 321,217. Turner Tanning Machinery Co., Ltd., (Turner Tanning Machinery Co.). Aug. 3, 1928. Rotating-tool machines.-A machine for operating on leather, hides, skins, or the like is provided with a tool, a work-support movable into and out of position for presenting the work to the tool, and power operated mechanism for moving the tool into working position and for controlling the return of the tool when the movement of the work-support is reversed. The work-support consists of a rubber-covered drum 10 having an edge 15 against which the work is adapted to be clamped by a clamp 14 under the influence of springs 18. In the position of rest, the clamp is supported by stops 16, Fig. 1, spaced from the edge 15 in order to enable a hide &c. to be inserted or removed, and the drum, when it begins to move, first moves into engagement with the clamp and carries it round during rotation. The shaft 72, on which the drum is mounted, is driven by gearing from a shaft 188 provided with a double cone clutch 190 adapted to be engaged with either of two oppositelyrotating pulleys 194, 196 driven from a powershaft 170. The clutch may be actuated manually by an operating-handle 192, and the shaft 72 is provided with a cam-member 202 adapted to engage a clutch lever 204 and to reverse the rotation of the drum automatically. The tool 12, which consists of a cylinder provided with helical blades extending outwardly from the centre of the cylinder, is mounted in bearings in levers 40, 40<a> pivoted at 44, Figs. 2 and 4, to the frame of the machine, the working-position of the tool being determined by an adjustable stop 50. The levers 40, 40<a> are each connected 'by a pivot 38 to a link 36 passing through the adjacent ends of weight levers 30 and regulated in position relative to the levers 30 by springs 60 and stops 64. The levers 30 are pivoted to the frame of the machine, and the weights thereon are sufficient to hold the tool 12 in raised position. The tool is adapted to be lowered by toggle levers 54, 56 connected respectively to the machine frame and the levers 30 and being actuated by a link 94 connected to a bell-crank lever 86 moving in unison with a second bell-crank lever 82 to which is pivoted a weighted lever 78 carrying a roller 76 engaged by a cam 70 on the shaft 72. The roller 76 is free from the cam during the period of rest, but is actuated, when the drum commences to rotate, in time to bring the tool into operative position before the edge 15 arrives in the working position. The link 94 is adjustable in length and is so arranged that the toggle is not completely straightened, to enable it to be broken easily. The lever 78, which is normally held horizontal, carries a pawl which, during the forward rotation of the drum, rides over the teeth of a ratchet 100 secured on the shaft 72, but on reversal of the rotation is lifted by the teeth, thus permitting the toggle to be broken and the tool raised by the weighted lever 30. The spring 60 is of sufficient strength to permit the tool to be lowered without perceptible yielding and is provided for the purpose of allowin the tool to give when a thicker part of the hide is being worked. The tool is provided with two pulleys 162, 164, Fig. 1, driven from the shaft 170. The upper ends of the links 36 are rigidly connected to members 116 carrying bearings 112 for a shaft 110 adapted to be rotated by a handle 132 and to be held in adjusted position by engagement of a spring-pressed rod on the handle with one of a series of notches in a member secured to the adjacent bearing 112. The rotaticn of the shaft 110 actuates, through sprocket chains 122, the pivots 38, which have eccentric portions on which the levers 40, 40<a> are mounted, so that the position of the tool relative to the support 10 can be adjusted. The adjustment can be effected during working of the machine in order to relieve the pressure and so prevent damage to perforated or torn parts of the hides. A spring-pressed stop 150 may be provided on the bearing 112 to limit the rotation of the shaft 110 by the handle 132.